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Monte Carlo calculation using a personal computer for electron probe microanalysis
Author(s) -
Osada Yoshio
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
x‐ray spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.447
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1097-4539
pISSN - 0049-8246
DOI - 10.1002/xrs.669
Subject(s) - monte carlo method , electron , tin , computational physics , personal computer , reduction (mathematics) , physics , atomic physics , materials science , chemistry , mathematics , computer science , nuclear physics , statistics , geometry , metallurgy , computer hardware
Monte Carlo simulation for calculating x‐ray spectra under electron impact is carried out by a personal computer. Reduction of the CPU time by reducing the number of incident electrons for calculation is performed. One of the methods used to reduce the number of incident electrons to obtain the results within an acceptable error is provided. We limit the present report to five typical compounds: an oxide (Al 2 O 3 ), a nitride (TiN), a carbide (Al 4 C 3 ), a light–light element compound (BN), and a heavy–light element compound (PbS). We calculate the relative x‐ray intensity generated from the five compounds listed above with the change of the number of the incident electrons. The calculated x‐ray intensity is then converted into the mass % by the ZAF method. Comparisons are made between the calculation and experiment for Al 4 C 3 and PbS. It is found that the present Monte Carlo method is useful for investigating a relationship between the number of incident electrons and the acceptable error. The results of 150 incident electrons can be applied in practical analysis, and the calculation time is less than 2 min. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.